


A Journey To You

by JadeDraggy2017



Series: The Case Files of a Detective Prince [2]
Category: Persona 2, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Comedic Nonsense, Hallucinations, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, In between story, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Nightmares, Past Child Abuse, Past Traumatic Events, Therapy, Time Skips, actually pretty light on the angst, mental instablity, no beta we die like men, some gory imagry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-04 17:49:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20475101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeDraggy2017/pseuds/JadeDraggy2017
Summary: The events of Sumaru City might be over, but before anything can progress there are some things to get over first. For the Suou’s it’s dealing with the traumatic past of their family. For Goro, it's navigating the new maze of a conspiracy theorist and operators he’s been integrated into. For the Masked Circle, it's just adapting to life outside of high school...But there is one thing Akira knows for certain, that the first step to getting over it, is getting the hell out of Sumaru City. Whether Tatsuya and Jun like it or not.





	1. The Reaper Feature

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back to this little detective alternate universe! I want to start off by saying that this story is just an in-between. IT IS NOT THE NEXT MYSTERY. So feel free to skip it. It's not going to belong. And I'm not troubling Rover to Beta it.
> 
> But if you want to come with me into a little look into how everyone handles things as they transition from the end of Sumaru City to the next phase then come along!
> 
> [tumblr](https://adraggynamedjade.tumblr.com/)  
[@draggynamed](https://twitter.com/draggynamed)  


“-Okay, but you need to look at this one, Maki-san!”

Akira sat on the edge of Maki’s desk. He was slightly hunched over looking at his phone as he complained. The bottoms of his sneakers were pressed against the side of her desk. He wore a thin black shirt and jeans, and on his wrist, an antique silver watch. Since he was leaning forward, the bangs of his curly black hair dangled forward slightly obscuring his glasses and his eyes.

Akira wasn’t supposed to sit on her desk, but he did so anyway. The woman had only mildly admonished him using her work desk as a chair during their sessions. However, Maki was pretty lenient with Akira. He told everyone that was because he was her favorite. And that may have been partially true…

But she mostly let him get away with it because she knew he wasn’t going to stop.

Akira’s therapy sessions had always been anything but normal since the first day he walked into Hiiragi Therapy. As a child, Akira took forever to open up to her about what was bothering him. Most of his time with Maki was spent in silence with him drawing horrid pictures of black figures with white faces. As he grew older, Akira opened up more and began talking about the friends he was making, and the things he was stealing. He drew his nightmare’s less, but still talked about them.

It wasn’t until the incident two years ago that sessions with Akira became less about him talking about the shadows that were chasing him and became more about the things in the world he was fixated on. His friends, their goals, his parents, and all the ways he didn’t fit into those equations.

Maki had thought that after some of those issues had been solved after Akechi Goro had come to Sumaru City and helped cleaned up the conspiracy ring of occultists, murderers, and drug dealers that had plagued Akira, that he’d start to focus on his recovery. She thought that the bond that he’d managed to make with Akechi would help him down a more focused path.

She could not have been any more incorrect in that assumption.

She rubbed her forehead as Akira sat up and leaned forward to hold his phone out to her. His grey eyes were fixed on her from behind his glasses. He watched her with an expectant stare, wanting to see her display the same annoyance he’d spent the past half hour venting to her. Maki reached forward and took his phone with a faint sigh and looked down at the screen. 

On it was a blog post, with an image of a black cat with purple eyes. She wore a big striped bow with a little bell in its center an ID tag hung from her neck. The cat was sticking her head out of a fancy grey canvas carrying bag, with a padded bottom, domed top, and windows made of white mesh on both sides so that air could flow freely into the bag. Painted over the mesh was a big black ‘A.’.

Underneath the picture there was a caption written as if the cat had made it:

_ “Look what came today! Father ordered a custom bag so I can travel with him around the city and to work! It’s very comfy! And even has detachable handles and straps so I can be carried by hand or over the shoulder! If you see us in the subway, be sure to say ‘Hi’!” _

Maki felt her lips twitch with just the hint of a giggle.

“It’s cute.”

“Cute!” Akira threw his hands up in the air.

“Ah, well… Akira, was it not your suggestion to Akechi-Kun to start a blog for his cat?”

“Yes!” Akira crossed his arms. Maki couldn’t help but chuckle to herself as he threw his little fit. It reminded her of when she told him he couldn’t just open every door ‘just because’. Akira was always going to be a problem child, she supposed. “But I didn’t expect this to be the result!”

“What?” Maki looked back at his phone and started scrolling. “It’s a popular blog! Akechi-kun is famous… I’ve even heard his popularity has picked up here in Sumaru City what with his appearance on SumaSUMASumaru, his helping in the Sudou case, and that interview Chikan published in ‘_ Coolest’ _ last month.” She stopped scrolling on the phone and looked back up at Akira, “I saw some merchandise with his face on it the other day at Smile Hirasaka. And there were girls picking over the notebooks… You should be happy Akechi is so popular. It will be good for his career in the long run-”

“I don’t mind that he’s popular! What I mind are the comments! All the girls are acting like they’ve never seen a man before!”

“The comments?” Maki handed Akira’s phone back to him.

He grabbed it from her and started scrolling.

“Just listen to these… ‘Akiaki-chan: Never thought I’d be jealous of a cat! Akechi-san if I put on little cat ears would you carry me around Tokyo?’”

“Well, I mean, fans tend to say silly things-”

Akira continued, “Akechi_is_Bea_All_Day says, ‘Shiki-chan am I allowed to pet your head? And am I allowed to pet Daddy’s head too?”

Maki coughed, “They’re just internet comment’s Akira…”

“MysteryLover said, ‘Ah! How cute! An ‘A.’ on the bag! An ‘A.’ on the cat! I have an ‘A.’ pin I won from the gacha machine! Does this make me Akechi’s too?”

“Okay, I understand, Akira… You’re jealous.”

Akira turned away from his phone, “I’m not jealous. They’re all just dumb comments. I’m just… _ Annoyed _.”

“Well, what do you want Akechi to do about them?”

“Delete them!” Akira got up from Maki’s desk and started pacing. “They’re annoying and creepy. He should tell all his fan girl’s he’s taken and put a stop to their weirdness.”

“Hmmn,” Maki rubbed her chin, “Have you tried asking Akechi why he hasn’t done so yet?”

“I did… And he told me some non-sense another idol told him about ‘always appearing available’. Like, his personal life can’t bleed over, it would kill his popularity.”

“That’s true. When your Aunt Lisa was still performing, any relationships she had she kept out of the spotlight-”

“But he’s not a performer!” Akira stopped walking around and turned to her, “He’s a detective! Who cares if he’s popular!”

“Maybe he cares?” Maki tilted her head. “Have you asked Akechi why his popularity is important to him?”

Akira paused, he shook his head.

“Well, maybe you can start there. Ask him why does he need to be popular with his fans? Surely there is some benefit you aren’t seeing. I doubt Akechi would intentionally ignore your concerns. Not after everything that you two went through.”

Akira rubbed his hands together, “Okay… I’ll ask him.” He meandered his way back over to Maki’s couch, where her patients were supposed to sit, and flopped down onto the cushions.

“Well, we still have a few minutes left…” Maki looked over at her clock, “Why don’t we talk about another subject. Jun-san told me that you’re having-”

“Ryuji and Yuuki leave next weekend.” Akira cut her off. He let his body slump over until he was lying on his side, “And Ann and Shiho left two weeks ago. Everyone will officially be gone! I’m going to be bored out of my mind.”

“Ah, yes… All your friends are departing for school, but that’s not what I wanted to cover this session.” Maki rose to her feet and approached the couch, “Jun-san said you’ve had a few nightmares.”

“So?”

“What are they about?”

“Can’t I just have bad dreams?”

“You can, but I just want to make sure that you’re not regressing any…”

“I haven’t had a hallucination in almost four weeks,” Akira answered flatly.

“I know, but, considering everything that has gone on, it wouldn’t be unusual for you to develop a new symptom.”

“I also don’t hear any voices anymore,” Akira shook his head. “That new medication you’ve given me is great!”

“Yes, but, new medications do not necessarily mean you are ‘cured’. Remember I told you that when you started this new treatment, to tell me if anything new was going on. New medications can have side effects on your sleeping habits. So, I really-”

“I just had a nightmare, Maki.”

“You had three.” She corrected him. “And Jun told me you locked yourself in your room.”

“…So,” Akira turned his head away from her.

“Akira, you _ never _ lock doors unless you feel you are in danger. You had three nightmares, and each time, Jun found the room to your door locked. Are you going to talk about it at all?”

Akira didn’t say anything.

On Maki’s desk, a timer she had set for their session went off. She looked away from Akira and sighed before walking over to shut it off.

“Next week, Akira, we’re going to talk about this. And you are not going to eat up the time complaining about your boyfriend’s fangirls, understand?”

“Sure, sure…” Akira got up and lingered for a moment. “Hey, Maki-san, before I go can I ask you something.”

“You can ask me anything, Akira.”

“Let’s say, you were me… And all your friends were moving away, and your boyfriend lived in another city… And, you just kind of, didn’t have anything to look forward to in your hometown. What would you do?”

“If it was me?” She smiled, “I’d work hard to move out and be with everyone else. Whatever it took, I’d get myself out of the place that was filled with old, or unwanted memories and head someplace new to start over.”

“Star over in a new place, huh?” Akira nodded. “Thank you, Maki.” 

Akira left Maki’s office and made his way out into the waiting room of Hiiragi Therapy. Sitting on the waiting room couch was his father, Tatsuya. He was wearing a red jacket with a white shirt underneath and a pair of black jeans. Over his right knee, he had a flexible brace to help him walk and make sure his kneecap was properly aligning while he healed from his accident. The doctor’s said it could come off soon.

Akira made his way over and plopped down on the couch next to Tatsuya with a smile, “Getting bored of having to wait yet?”

“Not at all,” Tatsuya shook his head. “How was your session with Maki.”

“Pretty good! I showed her Goro’s cat blog.”

“…Goro’s cat blog?” Tatsuya raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah, he made a blog for Shiki at the start of the month… It’s called ‘Shiki’s Tokyo Cat-Alogue’.” Tatsuya continued to look at Akira with a questioning stare. “Uh, here I’ll show you.” He pulled out his phone and opened the blog. “There are pictures of Shiki, sometimes Goro is in them too. It’s not a daily blog, but he posts often…” Akira scrolled through showing the pictures and posts Goro had made.

“…Why?”

Akira stopped scrolling, “Why what?”

“Why does he have a blog for his cat?”

Akira put his phone down, now he was just as confused as Tatsuya, “I don’t understand the question?”

“And I don’t understand why he has a blog for his cat?”

“…Why not?”

“That’s not an explanation.”

Akira pressed his lips together in thought. He peered at Tatsuya for a few moments until a sudden realization dawned on him, “Oh my god, Dad!”

“What?” Tatsuya sat up, “What is it, what’s wrong?”

“You’re getting old!”

Tatsuya sat still for a moment before shaking his head and leaning back into the couch.

“Don’t act so casual about it! This is an emergency! A travesty even! Don’t you understand you can’t get old! You already lost your motorcycle! If it gets out that you’re losing touch with what’s ‘in’, the group’s going to knock you from top spot on the cool parent list.” Akira grabbed his arm, “I’ve held that spot since we started hanging out! You can’t become lame! You just can’t!”

“Akira… Please grow up.”

Akira continued to pretend to be heartbroken over the fact Tatsuya didn’t care that he wasn’t ‘cool’ right up until another doctor’s office door opened. Jun walked out of the office along with Reiko, Hiragii Therapy’s primary doctor.

“Thank you again, Reiko-san.”

“There’s no need to thank me, you’re making great progress. And your son are long-time clients, I’m just happy that you’re pleased enough with our service to keep returning. You know that many patients transferred out after the debacle with _ Sawada _.” Reiko frowned. Her tone sounded somewhat venomous mentioning her former employee. However just as quickly as she showed her anger, the woman pushed it away. “I must admit I’m so surprised your family out of all of them still comes here…”

Jun did his best to try and reassure her, “That’s because both you and Maki-san are here. I remember how much good you did for me… And certainly, Akira’s childhood was improved by his time with Maki as well. One selfish man doesn’t change how we feel about either of you.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Reiko smiled. “I’ll see you next week then?”

“Of course,” Jun gave her another smile before turning to approach Tatsuya and Akira on the couch. Jun was wearing a long-sleeved light blue button-up with khaki pants. He looked exhausted but continued to smile in front of his husband and son.

Tatsuya and Akira, in turn, smiled back at him.

Since things had settled down, the entire family had been coming to Hiiragi Therapy once a week. Akira to speak with Maki and Jun to speak with Reiko. Tatsuya didn’t make any appointments for himself. He insisted he didn’t need to speak with anyone, but he came to support his husband and son.

Jun didn’t really push him to see a therapist either. For as long as Akira could remember Tatsuya did not really talk to anyone about his feelings. He knew Jun always understood them. Yet even between the two of them, Tatsuya did his best to keep anything affecting him negatively to himself. It really wasn’t until things came to a head with Sudou that he started to see his father’s façade break.

But now that the danger had passed, it was back. Akira really wondered if it was okay for Tatsuya to never bring up the things that weighed on his heart…

“Alright, sorry I took a little longer than usual.” Jun held out his hand as Tatsuya got up from the couch and reached for him.

“Akira only just came out a few minutes ago himself… How are you feeling?”

“I feel hungry.”

“Pops, that’s not a feeling.” Akira hopped up to his feet. “But I agree! I’m also hungry!”

“We can go eat at the Jolly Roger,” Tatsuya suggested.

“No, it's closed down,” Jun corrected him. “It’s being converted into a Big Bang Burger.”

Tatsuya rolled his eyes, “Another one?”

“Dad, don’t knock it till you try it. Plus, one of Goro’s friends is the daughter of the CEO.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like that every fast food restaurant in town is becoming a Big Bang Burger…”

“Well we can head over to Gatten Sushi then,” Jun squeezed Tatsuya’s hand as he started walking, leading him out of the office. Akira followed holding up his phone.

“Hey, Pops, what do you think of Goro’s cat blog…?”

Dinner at Gatten Sushi had gone as expected. Eikichi took some time out from the kitchen to come over and chat with Tatsuya and Jun while the Suou’s ate. During their meal, Jun revealed that he was already following Shiki’s Cat-alogue; firmly reassuring Akira that at least one of his parents would remain on top of the ‘cool’ list.

Tatsuya still didn’t get it. But Jun insisted that he had to stay on top of what teenagers were doing if he was going to be teaching at Sevens again. Especially since Goro had become something of a hot topic among the local teenagers.

It had been a pretty normal afternoon and evening for them.

Since the case wrapped up, and Tatsuya had gone through the final case closings, their lives were ‘normal’.

Over the past month, Akira’s friends who had graduated were moving on from Sumaru City. Jun was working on preparing himself for an interview with the Seven Sisters faculty board and their new principal, Tamaki Saeko, about a teaching position. Tatsuya had taken time off of work, though he still went some nights to join Ueda at Parabellum for a few drinks.

Things had rather stagnated. At least in Akira’s eyes.

Though he was happy to not have Shadows chasing him down trying to kill him… Sumaru City was slowly starting to reveal it had nothing to offer him but reminders of his conflicting past. Both the things he could talk about and those that he couldn’t. He had kept his word to Tatsuya that he would not bring up anything about the Amamiyas. He didn’t speak about them to his friends, to Maki, not even to Goro…

Though he did make it a point to write down bits of info here and there in a journal he kept to himself. He was convinced that if he didn’t he really would forget again. But was it even important to remember?

Akira looked out his window from his desk. He stared out into the dark backyard, his notebook open before him and Morgana curled up on the desk. In the book, he had a few notes and a couple of doodles that mirrored his childhood drawings of a lanky shadow with a white face. Though here and there he had added long hair and used another pen to give her red lips and eyes.

Sometimes he drew her holding a little black bean, with a mask of its own. A baby. A toddler.

He drew her with a smile. He drew her with a frown. He drew her crying. And he drew her dead.

Akira tapped the back of his pen against the open notebook pages.

Next, to the drawings, he had written down notes. Things he remembered about playing games of hide and seek. Or memories of a weird little blue box seen sitting out around the house. He had memories of breakfast together, and memories of being walked up to the attic and the door being shut with the promise she’d come back after her work was done.

“Who does such a thing?” He asked out loud. Morgana’s ears twitched slightly but the cat did not lookup. “I feel like she loved me… But who does such a thing?”

He turned and reached over to scratch Morgana’s head with the back of the pen.

“I wish I could ask her. Ask anyone… Maybe I should have asked that me in the cell if she really loved me.” Akira pulled his pen back and Morgana lifted his head. The cat opened his mouth wide for a yawn before getting up and stretching. He walked across the desk and laid down on Akira’s notebook.

Akira leaned down and let his head rest next to the cat. Morgana let out a soft purr as they held eye contact.

“What do you think?”

Morgana blinked a few times before stretching out his paw and tapping the side of Akira’s glasses.

“What’s that? You think I should start a cat blog for you too?” Morgana continued to slowly blink at him. “Hmm… but what would I call it? How about: ‘Mona’s Cat-Burglary Chronicles?’” Morgana closed his eyes. “You’re right. That’s too self-incriminating. Dad would shut it down on the first day.”

Akira kept his head down and groped around for his phone. As soon as his fingertips traced over the back he grabbed it and pulled it near so he could scroll through Goro’s blog.

“Do you miss Shiki as much as I miss Goro, Morgana?” That cat didn’t respond. “Tomorrow’s his off day… I wonder what time he’ll give me a call?” Akira stopped on a picture of Shiki sitting in a newly attached basket on Goro’s cycling bike. The picture had thousands of likes and just as many comments.

“I wonder what Goro would say if I told him I wanted to move to Tokyo…” Akira put down his phone and closed his eyes.

Maybe moving to Tokyo would make him forget about the Amamiyas, and Sudou, and everything about Sumaru City

After all, shadows were a thing of Akira’s past.  
  
The creeping black masses. The eerie stone faces. The confusing blackouts and terrifying hallucinations. He no longer suffered from them. It was all behind him. The shadows, the Lion, his parents.

He wasn’t afraid anymore. He needed to move on.

From outside his room, Akira heard something rattle and he picked up his head.

“Dad?” No one answered. He looked down at Morgana who was fast asleep curled up in a tight ball on his desk. Akira turned around in his chair and spoke again, “Pops, did you need something?”

No one answered. He frowned and turned to his clock. It was pretty late. Maybe he just heard them moving around upstairs? Akira got up and made his way to the door. Just as he grabbed the handle he heard the rattling again. It actually sounded pretty far away, but was still clearly in the house…

Akira gripped the handle of his bedroom door and questioned what he was hearing. He knew he’d heard it before. He’d heard it three times before. It wasn’t a normal sound… It wasn’t a good sound. He kept assuring himself whatever it was, it was fine. He was fine.

“Right, well as long as I’m up I may as well hit the bathroom...” Akira turned the handle, “Okay. Time to go.” He slowly pulled the door open.

Outside his room the hallway was dark. It was the middle of the night after all. His parents were asleep, and the entire house was quiet. Akira could barely see out into the hallway, and even though he knew it well it felt so unfamiliar.

Behind him Morgana had woken up and jumped off the desk. The cat ran past his legs once the door was open and rushed down the hall towards the front of the house.

“Hey!” Akira hissed after him, but the cat was already gone. “You could have at least waited…” Akira stepped out into the hall and turned the opposite direction.

His bathroom was just a few steps away from his door. And the room across from his was the guest room. It was empty, but he still briefly remembered a time when it was occupied by Goro. It was just a night, but Akira wished Goro was in there right now. He could knock on his door and pester him. The idea of having someone else awake beside him and his cat made him feel more comfortable.

Not that he was uncomfortable. He wasn’t afraid. He had nothing to be afraid of.

Still, he felt his feet quickly carry him to the bathroom and his hands readily flipped on the switch to flood the room with light. Akira turned to look back behind him at the partially lit hall and his chest heaved with a sigh of relief. Beyond the light, nothing moved. Not a single shadow stirred.

He shut the door and continued on with his business.

Once done, Akira opened the bathroom door without any of the hesitations he felt when leaving his room.

Outside the hall was just as he had left it. Morgana hadn’t even come back from poking around. He was more than likely in the kitchen looking for a meal that was not there.

“He better not be expecting a midnight snack,” Akira grumbled and turned off the bathroom light.

The moment he stepped out of the bathroom he heard the noise again.

Akira stopped and peered ahead into the darkness, expecting to see Morgana. But nothing moved. He heard the noise once. It sounded like a faint clinking echo; like pieces of metal rattling against each other. Maybe Morgana had knocked something over in the kitchen? Or gotten into the lower cabinets and was pushing the pans around.

Akira started down the hall shaking his head.

He walked past his door and the guest door, and the rattling grew louder.

He walked past his door again, and a faint moaning started to accompany the rattling noise.

He walked past the guest door a second time, and the hallway started to feel hot.

Absently he wondered how his parents could not hear all the noise in the house?

Akira walked past his room; the a was shining out from under the crack in the door. The light danced and flickered like a fire was burning on the other side.

The rattling noise grew louder and louder, and moans sounded like a man in agony. Akira had to put his hands over his ears to deafen the sound.

He walked past the guest room, from behind the door a scraping noise could be heard. Like metal being dragged across the door, carving into it. Akira started to pick up the pace, sprinting down the hall towards its end. He had to get to the noise. He had to put a stop to it.

He ran on, and on, past his door and the guest door several times. Each one was different. Some old, some new, some on fire, some bared. They repeated themselves over and over as the hall never ended. No matter how much Akira ran through the darkness the hall never ended.

Finally exhausted, he came to pause. He felt like he’d been running forever. Akira leaned forward to rest his hands on his knees and looked down at his feet. He could feel the sweat on his brow and his heart was racing.

Up ahead the rattling noise started to come closer.

Akira lifted his head and took several slow steady breaths.

Even in the darkness of the hall, he could see the shadow of a creeping figure coming around the corner. Akira stood up straight and watched with a curious morbid fear. The first thing he saw were the chains. Long metal rusty chains that were wrapped around a long, tattered black trench coat splashed with blood. The figure wearing them came around the corner, its body swaying and shambling. Its hands were covered in red: red gloves or red blood he couldn’t tell. But the figure’s head was covered with what looked like a dirty brown sack. It was bound tightly to his face, stained with blood, and soot and weird black marks. The bag was tied at its base with more chains that hung from its neck, and around its neck, a red ratty scarf flowed. The chains on its body were weighed down on the ends with what looked like limbs cut up and torn from other people.

Akira felt his heart stop.

The figure stopped advancing once it came around the corner, it swayed on its feet, if it even had feet. It almost appeared to be floating. It was still moaning and groaning.

Akira didn’t move. He didn’t make a noise. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do.

Was he supposed to talk to it?

“…H-hello..?”

The figure had no mouth, but there was one hole in its bag, and from that hole, Akira saw one bloodshot eye open and look at him. They raised one of their hands and pointed a long knife at him. With its other hand, it motioned for him to come closer.

“I-” Akira shook his head. “I can’t.”

His response drew a loud cry from the figure as it tilted its head back. Once done it started charging at him. Akira let out a yelp and turned and ran back down the hall.

Behind him, he heard the chains rattling louder and heard the creature dragging its knife on the walls of his home as it perused him.

He didn’t dare turn around to see how close it was. He just knew he had to keep running.

He ran back past his room and the guest room. Then the guest room, and his room.

His feet kept carrying him down the endless hall as the rattling chains grew closer. For all, he knew this creature had no mouth or nose, but he felt it breathing down his next. Its howling screams grew louder with every second. On top of that heat seemed to be radiating off the monster. A heat as intense as a flame.

Akira started to scream himself as he reached forward, hoping his hand would find his door and lead him to safety. And it did, just at the last moment. Just as he heard the monster stop digging its blade into the walls so it could drive the knife into his back.

Akira’s hand grabbed his doorknob and he practically collided with his door as he forced it open and rushed inside. He slammed the door in the face of his pursuer and backed up panting.

Morgana was already sitting back on the desk, curled up and happily sleeping. Akira stood in the middle of his room, struggling to breathe and a cold sweat running down his face. Outside he heard the monster banging on his door and dragging his knife over the wood for a good hour before it finally gave up. As it walked away Akira heard the rattling chains fade away.

He licked the top of his lip and closed his eyes.

They stayed closed until a knock came to his door the next morning.

“Akira!” Jun called to him, “It’s time for breakfast!”

Akira groaned and rubbed his eyes. He was sitting up in his chair at his desk, looking at his door. Morgana was up and pawing at the door, ready to leave for his first meal of the day.

“Akira? Are you awake?”

“Yeah…” Akira sighed rubbing his eyes. “I’m awake. I’m just… I didn’t sleep well.”

Akira’s doorknob turned but didn’t open. At some point last night, he’d gotten up and locked the door. He heard Jun hum on the other side of the door in thought.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“It was just a nightmare, Pops, I’m fine. I’ll be out soon.”

“Alright…” Akira listened as Jun slowly walked away from the door.  
  
He sighed and lowered his head.

“Why are you chasing me… First the Lion, and now a monster… Can’t I catch a break?”


	2. Not the Best Laid Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's coming along with me on this short ride of a side story! You can probably already tell it's not as detailed or info-dumpy as Sumaru City. Don't worry all of that WILL RETURN when the next proper mystery goes up.
> 
> Follow me for insanity:  
[tumblr](https://adraggynamedjade.tumblr.com/)  
[@draggynamed](https://twitter.com/draggynamed)  


_ լ I’m fighting in this garden. I’m bleeding out my heart. A throne torn through a soul- of lovely red-! ˥ _

“So!” Ryuji leaned back on the dusty old couch, “Goro’s going to meet us at the train station and help us get to our apartment!” He had to raise his voice to make sure his words were audible over the blaring guitar, drums, and vocals filling the room.

It didn’t help that the old prison basement in Hirasake was terrible for acoustics. But it was the only place Etsuko’s band, ‘Specter Phenomenon’ had left to practice that wasn’t driving the locals up the wall. They couldn’t play at anyone’s house anymore, due to neighbor complaints. Etsuko herself had managed to kick things off on the wrong foot with student body president at Karukozaka High and got them barred from school grounds; and with Alaya Shrine now just a vacant lot of ashes, this was their last resort.

Of course, Akira and what was still in town of the Masked Circle, came out to watch and support.

_ լ Roses are Red… Your love isn’t True… A mask of Affection! I’m dying in your Garden of Deception! ˥ _

“God, this unfair.” Akira leaned forward and let his body slump over his knees so he was looking at the floor. “You and Yuuki are going to see my boyfriend before me. What kind of justice is that?”

Akira sat next to Ryuji on the couch. It was one they had picked up off the side of the road and snuck into the old-new building. It was still in a state of half construction. And they were sure the music probably echoed its way out into the street, but no one had come to remove them yet.

They set up shop in the basement, just as Eikichi’s band ‘Gas Chamber’ had before them. The boys pushed all the storage boxes to the corners and side of the room leaving enough space for the band to practice and for them to lounge about.  
  
Yuuki was currently hanging out on the crates they’d pushed out of the way practicing with a volleyball; tossing it up and smacking it against the sides of various crates and trying to knock it back to targets he’d painted on the sides. Morgana was out roaming the construction site. Being confined to the room with all the loud noise blaring was not his ideal lounging situation.

“Come on, dude!” Ryuji smacked Akira on the back. “Goro’s just helping us out, it's not like he’s taking us out.”

“That’s not the point!” Akira flinched up after Ryuji smacked his back, “The point is you guys are leaving… And Ann and Shiho already left. I’m totally stranded out here. I might as well be on a deserted island out at sea!”

Ryuji laughed, “Your so dramatic, Akira. It's not that bad! We can still text and chat on the computer. You act like everything little change is the end of the world.”

“Isn’t it though?” Akira rolled his eyes.

Yuuki’s volleyball bounced off the side of a crate and landed on the couch between them. Ryuji and Akira jumped in response, nearly falling off the couch.

“Sorry about that!” Yuuki also had to scream to get his voice over the music. “I hit it a little too hard.”

“No kidding!” Ryuji handed him the ball, “You’re really going all out, huh? I thought you said sports weren’t going to be your focus in school?”

“They’re not. But I still want to join the team. It’s a good incentive to stay in shape!” Yuuki tucked the ball under one arm and raised up his other as he pretended to flex with a mocking smile.

“The shape of a wet noodle,” Ryuji chuckled.

“Quit showing off in front of Etsuko. I finally convinced her to stop crushing on you,” Akira shook his head.

In response, Yuuki took his volleyball and tossed it at Akira’s gut, “Stop saying that!”

Akira took the ball to the gut but laughed. “Come on? I thought you’d be happy!”

Yuuki threw his head back and sighed, “Happy that all high school long the only girl crushing on me is a toddler? No. Even I am not that desperate.”

“Who are you calling a toddler!?” From behind Etsuko screamed into her mic. The band had stopped playing. Yuuki practically jumped a foot into the air at hearing her scream echo around the room. He vaulted forward climbing over the couch and fell over the back with a thud.  
  
Akira and Ryuji leaned over the back to look at him and make sure he was alright before Akira turned back to his cousin, “So you don’t deny then that you had a crush on him?”

“…” Etsuko glared and pointed at Akira, offering him a silent and deadly threat before slowly raising her hand to start silently counting down for her band to start the song again.

As soon as the music started back up Yuuki climbed up and leaned over the back of the couch.

“What is your cousin singing anyway?”

“Don’t know, it’s in English.” Akira started bouncing the volleyball on the ground.

“She wrote an entire song in English!” Ryuji exclaimed. “Holy cow!”

“No. Ann helped her write it just before she and Shiho left the country. I don’t even think Etsuko really knows what it says.”

“Huh,” Yuuki climbed over the back of the couch to sit between them, “Well, it's catchy regardless.”

“I agree. Wish I could be here to see them perform it for an audience.” Ryuji turned to Akira. “You could record it for us all to watch later?”

Akira continued to bounce the ball, “Actually… I’m going to try to move to Tokyo.”

“What?”

“Fo’real? How? When?”

“I don’t know. But that’s my plan. I’m not going to stay in Sumaru City.”

“Do your parents know this yet?” Yuuki asked.

“I plan on telling them…” Akira stopped playing with the volleyball. “Just as soon as I get the chance.”

_ լ It doesn’t matter how I love you. Love you. You torture me. A rose thorns through my heart! I’m fighting in this garden- ˥ _

  
  


Late into the afternoon, the group departed from Etsuko’s band practice, Akira and his cousin split off from the group and walked home part of the way together. Etsuko was still mad at him, scolding him now that they were alone. However, Akira wasn’t listening. He was watching the time on his phone. He had an hour to get home. Not because he was under curfew but because Goro was going to call him tonight.

“I’m really starting to hate you, you know.” Etsuko waved her arms around, frustrated. “If you tell one more person that I have a crush on Mishima, I’m going to break my guitar over your head.”

“Uh, huh. Just let me know in advance okay?”  
  
“And then while you’re out cold, I’ll draw all over your face! And shave your head.”  
  
“Sounds great.”

“Akira, are you listening to me?”

“No.”

Etsuko groaned and snatched his phone from him. She pulled her hand back and held it behind her back, “Listen to me! You’re not funny!”

“But you do have a crush on him!”

“That was like- a million years ago! And I told you in confidence. IN CONFIDENCE. Not so you could torture me throughout middle school!”

Akira tried to reach behind her back, “You should have known better than to trust me with anything like that!”

“You keep Ryuji’s dumb secrets!” Etsuko twisted her body around to keep him from getting the phone.

“We’re bros!”

“And we’re family! Blood is thicker than water!”

Akira stopped trying to reach behind her and scoffed, “You know that phrase has actually been misconstrued over time. It actually means, your bonds with your friends are stronger than those with your family. Not the other way around.”

“I feel like you’re lying to try and appear right.”

“Uh, no. It’s true.” Akira put a hand to his chest and took an arrogant pose, “It was a fact on one of my exams. And I’ll have you know I got _ exemplary _marks.”

“Yeah, when you showed up…” Etsuko pulled his phone back out and handed it back to him. The two walked again in silence for a bit before she spoke up again. “I heard you telling the boys you want to move away.”

“Well, yeah. I’m done with school. And all my friends are heading to college.”

“So you’re going to go to college too?”

“…I don’t think so.” Akira stuck his hands in his pockets.

“So you’re going to get a job?”

“I guess?” Akira shrugged his shoulders.

“So you have no idea what you’re going to do? Other than leave?”

“That’s the gist of it.”

Etsuko combed her fingers through her hair and frowned, “So basically, you’re going to leave cause you’re alone, and end up leaving me all by myself? Great.”

“Come on, you’re not by yourself!”

“The entire Masked Circle is gone!” She stopped walking at the corner where they had to split up. “And the shrine is burned to dust… I was going to at least move in there with the band. Start a ‘Masked Circle Third Strike’ kind of deal. The girls have already got masks for our performances. I figured you’d at least be there at the start to help me… And now you’re saying you’re running away?”

“I’m not running away.”

“Then what do you call just up and moving with no freaking plan, ‘Mr. I’m-So-Smart’?”

Akira opened his mouth, but all he did was sigh. He rubbed the side of his neck and looked down the road. “Look, Etsuko…” Akira tapped the toe of his left foot into the sidewalk as he spoke, “I’m not leaving to leave you, okay… But you know… I don’t know what I’m going to do here. There’s nothing for me other than just… To sit around and stagnate. I have to leave.”

Etsuko looked down the street, still frowning, “Well, is it going to be soon?”

“I’m unsure of that.”

“Ugh, you’re so stupid, Akira.” She raised her head and gave him a light shove, “You’d better not leave suddenly, got it? I want plenty of time to say goodbye!” Before Akira could respond she dashed across the street. Once on the other side, Etsuko turned to wave at him before continuing on her way home.

Akira took a deep breath, “Well, I better get home and tell Dad and Pops. Cause she’s going to go crying to Uncle… It will go a lot better if they hear it from me first.”

  
  


Akira poked at his dinner.

He knew he had to tell Jun and Tatsuya about his desire to move out but he didn’t know how to tell them. Should he just come right out and say it? Maybe start a casual ‘what if’ conversation… However he started this topic, he knew he needed to do so before his Uncle called and started it for him. Because there was no way Etsuko didn’t go home and start spilling immediately over the news.

“You’re picking at your food,” Tatsuya’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

Akira looked up to both his fathers staring at him. He hated when they would both stop eating to just watch him.

“Is everything alright, Akira?” Jun asked.

“Oh, you know… Just… Thinking.” Akira looked down at his food.

“Do you want to tell us what?” Tatsuya spoke again.

“Um…Errr…” Akira tapped his fingers on the table, “How about after I have my phone call with Goro?”

Tatsuya let out a slight sigh, but Jun laughed.

“Is that what’s on your mind? Are you still thinking about the comments on his cat blog?”

“It’s kind of about that,” Akira shrugged. “But I do plan to tell him to do some better moderation!” Jun laughed into the back of his hand, but Tatsuya resumed eating. “Anyway, can I finish in my room? He’s going to call soon.”

“Sure why not,” Tatsuya nodded to him. As Akira stood up and grabbed his plate, he stopped him, “Let me know when you’re off the phone with him? I have to give him a call about work.”

“Huh?” Akira paused. “I thought everything about the Sudou case was cleared up?”

“Akechi also does consult on Tokyo SIU’s behalf. I just want to ask him a question.”

“But you’re not at work right now?” Akira tilted his head, “You don’t go back for another week I thought?”

“You know your father never actually stops working,” Jun tilted his head toward Tatsuya with a smug look. “Even when he promises me, he’s not.”

Tatsuya cleared his throat and focused his stare on Akira, completely ignoring Jun, “Just let me know, alright?”

“Alright…” Akira took his plate and walked away. As soon as he got up Morgana followed him down the hall. Behind him, he could faintly hear his parents teasing each other about working too hard, too often.

Akira made his way back to his room and shut the door. He set down his plate on his desk and turned to Morgana. Akira pointed at the cat and firmly spoke, “This is my food. Mine. Not Morgana food, got it?” Morgana’s ears perked up and he let out a sweet and innocent sounding meow in response. “Good.”

Akira walked over to his bed and flopped down. He laid back and stared at his screen as if trying to will it to ring. And either by luck, or actual will power the screen lit up with the name ‘Goro’ a few seconds later.

The moment he saw his name, Akira felt his chest swell. He swiped the screen and pulled the phone closer to his ear.

“Goro! Hi!”

On the other side of the line, Goro laughed, “The phone barely rang, Akira. Were you just waiting around for me to call, again?”

“Look,” Akira rolled over onto his side, “I’m bored as hell! And you yourself said you only have so much free time a week to call. So, I’m not going to miss it.”

Goro laughed again, “Well, that is true. My schedule is rather packed. Between school, new cases and reports for work, keeping up with my public appearances, and now I’m doing additional consultations-”

Akira let out a soft grown, “Goro, don’t you think you’re overworking yourself?” Goro didn’t respond. There was a pause on his end of the line. “Goro?” Still, he didn’t talk, but Akira could hear Shiki’s bell in the background. “Goro!”

“No!” The other boy finally snapped back into the conversation. “No, I’m not overworking myself…”

“Bullshit.” Akira flopped over onto his back, “That’s the third time you’ve spaced out during one of our calls. I’m starting to think you’re falling asleep while we talk.”

“I’m not falling asleep, I’m just… Thinking.”

Akira hummed. He didn’t like that response. That was the kind of thing he would say to Tatsuya when he had no idea how he’d react to what was on his mind. “They must be very deep thoughts. What are you thinking about so hard that you space out of the conversation?”

“Hmn…” Akira could hear Shiki’s bell rattling through the phone much faster than before. Goro was more than likely petting her. “You could say its more like, I’m just trying to reason with myself about the facts presented.”

“Reason with yourself? About what? The fact that you’re overworking?”

“Well, in this case, yes. And I’ve determined that I’m not overworking… I’ve only had a few small cases since I left Sumaru City. Most of which have been wrapped up within a few days. Ah, but there are some new developments coming up with this recent outbreak of overdoses on an unknown psychoactive hallucinogen.”

“…Unknown?”

“Well…” Goro lowered his voice, “I’ll be honest with you. All the symptoms I’ve seen line up with what we saw and learned about Kegare. It would seem that production and distribution of the drug has successfully been moved here to Tokyo. And a new composition of it is being manufactured at that…”

“Oh…” Akira twisted his bangs between his fingers, “There are still some addicts here in Sumaru City.”

“I know, your father has told me… But the incidents here. They’re concentrated. A direct effort to disrupt certain aspects of the city. I’m certain of it.”

“Certain aspects like what?”

“Certain aspects like ones I cannot discuss with a civilian.”

“Oh come on!” Akira started kicking his legs as he threw a small tantrum. “Goro! Just tell me!”

“Akira… You’re not involved in this case. I won’t tell you a thing,” Goro laughed.

Akira let out an exasperated groan and rolled over to face the rest of his room. Morgana was up on his desk licking at the food on his plate. He sighed and rolled back over to face the wall so he wouldn’t have to watch the cat eat his food.

“But you talk to my dad about your work, don’t you?”

“I do… But Tatsuya-san isn’t a civilian. He’s another officer.”

“But he’s not working your cases!”

“No, but it's good to have outside help. A fresh pair of eyes and opinions can reveal things your own assessment may have overlooked.”

“Oh god, you’re starting to sound like him…”

Goro beamed, “You think so? Actually I’ve been reviewing a lot of the old casework your father and uncle, Katsuya, have been involved in. They’re really quite efficient and diligent in their work. I actually-”

“Okay, hold on. Stop. Stop!” Akira raised his voice to speak over Goro, “We are not wasting our phone conversation for you to gush about your work crush on my dad and uncle.”

“Excuse you- that’s not- I was just saying that I hope my career is filled with as many accomplishments.”

Akira rolled back and forth on his bed as he laughed, “Considering you and Dad could barely stand to be in the same room together when you first arrived, I suppose it is a good thing you guys get along so well now.” Akira listened to Goro give out a slight huff on the other end of the line. Again he heard Shiki’s bell ringing. “Is that Morgana’s wife in the background?”

“Yes, that’s her.” Akira noted Goro didn’t object. He pushed back for a long time about the ‘cat’s are married’ joke, but eventually he gave up. “She is being extremely fussy today.”

“Why? I thought you bought her that fancy new bag so she wouldn’t feel pent up while you were at school?”

“Oh she loves the bag. We constantly get stopped by my fans asking if they can pet her,” Akira let out a slight grumble between Goro’s sentences. “But the store was all out of her favorite wet food. Apparently, there was a recall. I had to buy something else and toss out what I had. So her usual midweek treat was not up to her standards.”

“Honestly, I think that cat is actually getting a more spoiled treatment with you than it got with Ishigami.”

“I just want to take care of her,” Goro’s tone relaxed, and Akira felt he could feel him smiling through the phone. “After all, you gave her to me. Its like having a little bit of you here in the city with me.”

“Oh.” Akira couldn’t stop himself from grinning like a fool. No amount of fangirl fueled jealousy could make him upset now. “Well, I’m glad you’ve got each other.”

“I am too. Truth be told, she was a big help during my recover back form Sumaru City. And since then she’s been excellent company. I never noticed how empty and quite my place was before…”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes,” Goro muttered, though his tone was still warm. Shiki’s bell had stopped chiming in the background. “You know, Akira… As long as we’re, kind of on the topic, I was thinking about coming to visit for the weekend? Not this one since I have to meet Sakamoto and Mishima here at Shibuya Station. But next weekend?”

“You were!?”

“Yes. I mean if you think you’ll have time…”

“Me? Goro I’m literally doing nothing with my life here, you’re the one who’s always busy!” Goro laughed in response. It wasn’t like when he chuckled and tried to hold back; cheerful laughter filtered through the phone as Goro’s honest amusement spilled from his lips. Akira felt his face turn red, even though he enjoyed that Goro laughed openly when they spoke. It was usually over something he said or did.

Once he stopped laughing, Goro started speaking again, “I find it hard to believe that you’re ‘doing nothing’. You are always up to something, Akira! There must a scheme going on in that head of yours.”

“Well I wouldn’t really call it a scheme-”

“I knew it. So what are you up to? Tell me? Or do I have to wait until we’re face to face to find out?”

“Hmmn… Well if I withhold telling you, will that guarantee that you show up here next weekend?”

“Alright, I can agree to that. Next weekend I’ll come see you. And you tell me whatever ridiculous scheme it is you’re up to now.”

Akira had to keep his lips together to keep himself from crying out over the phone with joy. “Great! Great!” He eventually managed to say. “I’ll make sure the guest room is ready! And I’ll let Pops and Dad know!”

“Wonderful. I’ll make sure I’m all caught up on my school work by- Oh!” Akira could hear a faint beep in the background, “Sae-san is calling me. Its late, it must be important… I have to go, Akira.”

“Really? This is the second time she’s interrupted us-”

“Sorry, but duty calls… I’ll text you tomorrow?”

“Okay- Oh! Uh, when you’re done with her, give my Dad a call. He mentioned needing to consult with you.”

“Hm. Understood. Goodnight, Akira. I-” Goro paused for a second, presumably to put Sae’s call on hold before it dropped. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Goodnight, Goro, I look forward to it!” Akira hung up his phone and sighed. A call cut short. But Goro was coming to visit! He could announce to his parents and Goro that he wanted to move at the same time.

“Oh, shit, Etsuko!” Akira flipped through his contacts and stopped on his cousin. He quickly texted her.  
  


**Akira:** Etsuko! You didn’t tell Uncle and Auntie that I want to move did you?

**Etsuko:** Uh, duh, of course I did.

**Akira:** Can’t you keep your mouth shut?

**Etsuko:** Coming from the guy who drags up my one week crush from three years ago at every turn!!

**Akira:** OMG. Can you just ask Uncle and Auntie not to talk about it? I haven’t talked to Dad and Pops yet and I want them to hear it from me.

**Etsuko:** Fine. For how long do they need to keep quiet?

**Akira:** Just until Goro arrives next weekend.

**Etsuko:** …He’s coming next weekend?

**Etuko:** OMG YOURE ELOPING ARENT YOU.

  


Akira rolled his eyes and tossed his phone to the end of his bed. He was even going to dignify that with a response. He fell back to let his head rest against his pillow and smirked. This week Ryuji and Yuuki were leaving. Next week Goro was coming to visit, and he’d announce his plan to move out. And then hopefully soon after that, he’d be in Tokyo too!

Maki was right, focusing on getting out of town was really lifting his spirits.

Content with what he’d chewed off of Akira’s plate, Morgana made his way over to the bed and hopped up to join him. Akira scratch his cat’s head as his mind wandered over how perfect this was going to be. Just him, and his boyfriend, and his two best buddies in Tokyo. It was going to perfect.

He was so convinced that nothing could go wrong, that he wasn’t even upset when he woke up hours later in the middle of the night to discover he was once again locking his bedroom door in his sleep covered in a cold sweat. With the faint dream of chains rattling still echoing around in his head…

  


Everything was going perfectly.


	3. The Star Idol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, mermaids are done. Now back to Akira and Goro int he detective AU!
> 
> Though if you look at the new tags you can probably guess this chapter is about someone new joining the flock.
> 
> Follow me for insanity:  
[tumblr](https://adraggynamedjade.tumblr.com/)  
[@draggynamed](https://twitter.com/draggynamed)  


**Sakamoto:** Our train is pulling up the station now! You’re there right?

Goro looked down at his phone. Ryuji started texting him the moment his train came within city limits. Akechi had arrived early to wait for Ryuji and Yuuki to reach Tokyo. Punctuality was always important to him, but that aside, he arrived early out of fear there would be a delay with the trains.

Akechi: I’m here waiting. I’m standing next to the juice stand across from the Ginza Line sign. It’s right when you come up the upstairs. Call when you get off.

He swiped his phone and dismissed the messaging app to pull up the local news. There was another train accident last night. Luckily it was one of the final lines of the evening. There were only twenty injuries, no fatalities. But that had been the fourth derailing this month. Not to mention several train conductors had been stopped before starting their shifts for having violent outbursts and attacking their coworkers.

All tested positive for the same drug.

_ “It has to be the Order. But you have no way of knowing how the distribution is taking place…” _

“If only Sawada had survived,” Goro grumbled to himself.

His own voice muttered out of the corners of his mind,  _ “You need to find them the old fashioned way. Drugs are distributed at street level. By grunts. Find the grunts and work your way up…” _

His phone buzzed again.

**Sakamoto:** Got it. But how do we find that sign???   
  
“Did you even read it?” Goro quickly typed his instructions again. And shook his head. “He’s probably running his mouth with Mishima.”   
  
He slipped his phone into his pocket and crossed his arms as he stared out into the crowd waiting.

“I should approach Sae-san about looking into the train derailments…

_ “She’ll never approve.” _

Goro shook his head. It didn’t matter to him if she approved or not. Maybe he’d ask the Director. But then again he probably would say no as well. Looking into it himself might get him in trouble, however, it's what he wanted to do. It’s what he needed to do. He was tired of being stuck working on small cases. Even though he had been reinstated, he’d been assigned nothing but throw away jobs since Sumaru City.

It was some sort of punishment, he could tell.

_ “Even though you clearly did what they wanted…” _

Perhaps she was suspicious of him now? He’d made sure to carry on as usual. Even did his best to make sure all his opinion answers on the Tatsuya and his team were neutral, not leaning in his favor, but strictly respectful of his work performance. But still, Sae-san was keeping him from doing anything major. If she was suspicious of him that would create issues. He wouldn’t be able to get his real assignment done. How to get back on her good side…

Goro’s phone started to buzz endlessly. Ryuji was calling him.

He snapped out of his thoughts and picked up the call, “Sakamoto-san! Did you all just pull in?”

“Sakamoto!” Ryuji shouted back. “Man, come on! Stop doing that! Say my name!”

Goro’s lips pulled down into a slight frown, “Yes, I know you said that I should, but really we haven’t spent that much time tog-”

“Goro! Stop being uncool! Oh- Yuuki think’s he sees you! Wave if that’s you!”

“Wave?” Goro looked around. He didn’t see them in the crowd but waved regardless. Sure enough, as soon as he did he saw three hands enthusiastically shoot up into the air. Goro felt his frown turn itself upright. “I see you. Come on over.”

He hung up his phone and waited for Ryuji and Yuuki to approach.

As soon as he was within arm's length Ryuji reached out to clap his hand on Goro’s shoulder and greet him loudly.

“Yo! Goro! Long-time no see!”

“It’s good to see you too, Saka- Ryuji. Yuuki.”

The boys each had a bag with them. For Ryuji it was an old Seven’s sports duffle bag, Yuuki had a travel bag on wheels. The two were dressed in their casual clothes and all smiles upon their reunion, except-

“Man, are you  _ fo’real _ still wearing a sweater vest?” Ryuji looked Goro up and down.

“What?” Goro’s expression scrunched up with scrutiny.

“I told you’d be wearing one,” Yuuki smirked. “It's kind of his brand.”

“You are dressed like my grandpa! You live in what is easily one of the most fashionable cities in the world! And you are DRESSED LIKE AN OLD MAN!”

Yuuki started to laugh, but Goro sighed.

“Please stop yelling, everyone in the station is looking…”

“We need to go shopping, immediately.” Ryuji turned to Yuuki looking for confirmation.

“What? No! I’m here to help you two find your apartment.”

“Also, I’m starving,” Yuuki nudged Ryuji, “You said we’d ask Goro for a good ramen shop, then hit the apartment.”

“Well, I’m not opposed to getting something to eat.” Goro tapped his chin before pulling up his phone, “I know several places to get a great bowl of ramen. Some are close are by, there’s a few we’d have to catch a train for…”

“These are places featured in your food blog, yeah?” Ryuji asked.

“Oh, you two still look at that?”

“You mostly post sweets. Ann follows it more than we do,” Yuuki answered. “Still I think it’d be better for us to hit a place, not on your blog,” he suggested. “It would be nice to just hang out. Just the three of us. I know your fans frequent places you’ve been.”

“Hmm, that’s very true.” Goro put his phone away. “Then the train it is… Your bags aren’t heavy, are they? Your apartment isn’t far from here we can drop them off-”

“Nah, we’re good,” Ryuji shrugged and shifted the bag on his shoulder. “All our heavy stuff was brought by a moving company.”

“Then it should be no trouble,” Goro pointed back over his shoulder. “We need to head back this direction. Follow me.”

“Awesome!” Ryuji cheered, “I’ll text my mom as soon as we’re sitting down to eat.”

Goro led the way through the subway underground with Yuuki to one side of him and Ryuji on the other.

“Man this place is packed, I thought Ann was exaggerating.” Yuuki huffed as he tried to weave his bag through the masses.

“Afraid not; Tokyo is really crowded during the height of the day.”

“I kind of like it,” Ryuji kept looking at all the signs they passed by, “I feel like I could go exploring for days and still not see it all. You’ve lived here your whole life, right, Goro?”

“Correct. And even I’ve not seen it all.”

“But you are going to help us see all the best parts, right?” Ryuji winked.

“Oh of course! Whenever I have time… But there are several places I’m sure you two will like.”   
  
Goro started to list off places counting them on his fingers, “I know a gym that you’d love to join, Ryuji. Plenty of restaurants that are affordable or college students. Oh, Yuuki, I’m sure you’ll enjoy Akihaba-”

“No, no, no,” Ryuji wrapped an arm around Goro’s shoulder causing him to stumble as they walked. Goro nearly clipped into a girl with long dark brown hair. “I’m not talking about places to see! I’m talking about girls!”

“Girls!? What in the world?” Goro looked from Ryuji back to Yuuki, who just slowly smiled nervously.   
  
The girl Goro nearly hit resituated her bag and turned to look at the group of boys as they walked away.

“Come on, Goro. You’re a celebrity. With a legion of fangirls. And we are your two single, very attractive, friends!” Ryuji pulled him in closer and winked. “So, it's up to you to be the best wingman you can be.”

Goro sighed, “Are you kidding me… I thought you didn’t want to be bothered by my fans…”

“Well, not right away,” Yuuki confessed. “I mean we should get settled first.”

“Unbelievable,” Goro rolled his eyes. “Ryuji, Yuuki, I am not going to play wingman for you two-”

“Akechi-san?” The boys stopped walking at the sound of a girl’s voice asking for Akechi. “Is that you?” The trio turned around to speak to the one asking.

Behind them, the girl Goro had nearly collided with had started to follow them. She had a long red accessory tied into her locks that was the length of her hair, red lips, and was wearing a white sleeveless dress with an orange and blue pattern, black stockings and white boots. Over her shoulder, she had a black messenger bag that looked like it had something rectangular stuffed in it.   
  
As soon as they turned around her confused expression softened into a smile, “That is you, Akechi-san. I almost didn’t recognize you with these two.”

“Oh! Togo-san!” Goro shrugged Ryuji off and straightened his appearance. “Did we walk into you? I’m so sorry, how inconsiderate of me.”

“Togo-san?” Yuuki peered at the girl and dug out his phone from his pocket. Ryuji, however, seemed to have drifted off into another world. He stayed next to Goro completely silent.

“No, no, it’s fine. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other.” Hifumi looked between the boys, “Though it's unusual to see you with company. Even in candid photos you’re always alone. Are these your friends?”

“You still keep up with all that press non-sense?” Goro chuckled at her, “I guess old habits are hard to break… But yes. These are my friends, Sakamoto Ryuji, and Mishima Yuuki. They just moved to the city today for college! We’re on our way to get something to eat before heading to their apartment. Ryuji, Yuuki, this Togo Hifumi. She’s uh, an old client of mine you could say.”

“Oh, I see,” She nodded, “I’m sorry to have interrupted your outing.”

“No, no it’s fine…” Goro shook his head. But the air remained filled with silence after that.

“Well, I’m glad you’ve finally made time for friends. I remember I could never pin you down for a thank-you dinner,” Hifumi let out a soft sigh and shook her head.

“Oh, yes well…” Goro felt his chest tighten.

“You could come with us!” Ryuji suddenly blurted out. The group turned to look at him. “In fact, I insist! We’re trying to get Goro to be more sociable! Right, Yuuki?”

“Oh, ye-yeah,” Yuuki glanced at Ryuji confused, “You know, he’s really good with crowds but bad at one on one.”

Goro frowned, “Who says?”

“Come on man,” Ryuji nudged him before smiling at Hifumi, “You wouldn’t have guessed it but our first time hanging out was a disaster! Goro was so awkward-”

“Hey!”

“So you know you probably lucked out not getting him to join you for dinner. But you can join us!”

Hifumi paused for a moment like she was considering it but shook her head, “I actually just finished eating at the diner in Shibuya. I’m on my way to Kanda to practice.

“Oh,” Goro nodded surprised, “Still practicing? Are you planning of coming out of retirement?”

“It’s hard to retire when I barely got started. But I may play on my college team next year.”

“Well, I wish you luck!”

“Play?” Yuuki snapped his fingers and look down at his phone, “That’s why your name sounds familiar. You’re the former Shogi Venus!”

“Oh, yes… You’ve heard of me,” Hifumi looked away for a moment before turning back to Goro with a smile, “Well, I’ll leave you and you and you’re friends to your meal. Maybe I can catch you some other time.”

“Huh?” Ryuji balked.

“Really? You don’t want to come?”

“It’s alright, Togo-san. I believe I’ve still got your number. I’ll contact you when I know what my next free day is.” Goro offered her a polite smile.

“Thank you,” she bowed her head and turned to disappear into the crowd.

“What the heck…” Ryuji smacked himself in the forehead. “Why didn’t she come! The first girl we meet in Tokyo and we blew it!”

“It probably has to do with Yuuki knowing who she is.” Goro put one hand on his hip and motioned to the third boy. “Togo-san has been out of the spotlight for the past two years. I imagine hearing her old idol name startled her.”

“Way to go, Yuuki! You chased off a bonafide idol!” Ryuji shook his head, “Man she even still looks the part…”

“Me! But that’s what everyone called her!” He held up his phone, “Besides, she’s an athlete, not an idol. She used to be champion of the High School female Shogi league. She even had matches against professional players and  _ won _ ! But she dropped out after a controversy where her mother was paying players to take a dive.”

“Whoa, seriously?” Ryuji looked back through the crowd where Hifumi had left trying to spot her.

“Yeah, the whole scam was uncovered by-”

“Me.” Goro took over the story. “Togo-san herself asked me to investigate her mother. We meet at a TV station one afternoon where we both had interviews scheduled. During the course of my investigation, I would meet her at the station to avoid suspicion. Once her mother was outed she did one more match. An honest one against a high ranking player. And won, though just barely. That same night she announced she would be taking a break from competitive play.”

“Dude…” Ryuji frowned, That sucks. Her whole career upended due to controversy form some shitty adult. And her own mother no less…”

“It’s tragic but that’s what happens. Parents take advantage of their children’s talent because they have none of their ow-“ Ryuji started to walk away, heading back the direction they came in the middle of Goro’s speech. “Hey!”

“Where did she say she was going? Kanda? How do I get there?”

“One, just follow the signs for the appropriate line. Two, we’re going the opposite-”

Ryuji looked up and read the signs before pointing at one, “I see it! Let’s go!” He took off running.

“Ryuji!” Goro chased after him, leaving Yuuki to panic for a moment before following.

The two boys trailed behind Ryuji, even in the crowded underground, and with very little clue as to where he was going, he was fast. Goro and Yuuki called after him to wait but it was useless. He was determined to catch up to Hifumi.

Goro eventually lost sight of him but knew which direction to head. He reached back to grab Yuuki’s hand and keep him from falling behind.

“Come on! This way! We have to hurry!”

“Easy for you to say! You’re not dragging a bag behind yooo-” Yuuki snagged on a pillar and his bag’s handle snapped. The sudden jerk caused him to fall and he took Goro down with him. The two crashed and laid on the ground on in shock for a few seconds.

_ “Un. Be. Lieve. Able.” _

It wasn’t until a small crowd started to gather and Goro heard people faintly whispering what he thought was his name that he sat up in a hurry and turned to look at Yuuki.

“Are you alright? Can you get up?” He pushed himself to his feet before helping the other boy up.

“Ugh… My bag…” He turned around and grabbed it by the shorter handle and sighed. “Ryuji owes me a new one!”

Goro did his best to ignore what members of the crowd didn’t disperse: a few girls looking on of high school age. Obviously, fans of his, but he didn’t have time for them. Whatever they posted online would just have to churn in the rumor mill for a bit.   
  
Goro continued to lead the way to the train, but much slower now. By the time they reached the platform, Ryuji was completely out of sight.

“I don’t see him anywhere,” Goro looked around.

“I do.” Goro turned back to Yuuki who pointed across to a departing train.

Inside one of the windows, they saw Ryuji. He was hanging onto an arm rail and looking down chatting to Hifumi who was sitting in the seat in front of him. Goro’s jaw dropped as the train pulled away.

“I- He- He just left us!” He lowered his head and put his palm to his eyes.

“Are we going to go get him?”

“…After we put your bag in the apartment.” Goro raised his head frowning. “Come on. The residential district isn’t far, but with your broken bag the walks going to be a chore.”

  
  


Ryuji didn’t really have a plan for when he chased down Hifumi. He had been expecting to have Goro along to help keep the conversation going, however the moment he got on the train and saw he was alone, he knew that plan was scrapped.

So instead he did what he did best: be his charming self.

He grabbed a handle next to Hifumi’s seat and cleared his throat.

“Uh, Hey!” Hifumi looked up surprised to see him. She’d started reading a book. It looked like a textbook. Was she studying? “Um,” he rubbed the side of his neck, “Sorry to intrude, I just, wanted to come and apologize! About back there. We didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

Hifumi stared up at him confused for a moment and looked around before speaking, “Weren’t you getting on a different train?”

“Oh, well, yeah but… You know… My mom always said you should never part with a lady when she’s angry!”

Hifumi tilted her head considering that statement before speaking up again. “So you chased me down to my train to apologize for being awkward. And got yourself trapped on this train with me in the process.”

“Um, yes?”

“Is that not also awkward?”

“Errr…”

“Do you even know how to get back?” She raised her eyebrows.

“I can figure it out.”

“Can you now?” Hifumi looked up at him in dead silence. Ryuji stared down at her continuing to rub his neck. He was certain he was going to rub it raw at this point. “You’re kind of foolish.”

Ryuji gulped at her comment. He looked away, but Hifumi started to laugh.

“You were so worried about my feelings you didn’t consider that you’d get yourself lost in a new city? Akechi-san is probably losing his mind right now.”

“Oh well yeah, you know… Goro is sometimes a bit too much of a law and order guy.”

“He’s a detective.” She pointed out.

“Yeah, but he’s gotta cut loose! Have some fun! Be spontaneous!” Ryuji let go of his neck and grabbed the handlebar with both hands to hang from it. “I mean, that’s how me and my friends are.”

“Are you?”

“Yeah! You have to do things on the fly sometimes! Especially for other people! So, I might get lost! I’ve got my phone! What’s important is making sure you weren’t upset!”

“Hmmmn,” Hifumi pressed her lips together and considered something for a moment, “You know, actually, this might work.”

“What?”

“I could use someone ‘spontaneous’ who doesn’t think for practice today. Do you know anything about Shogi?”

“Not a thing!” Ryuji answered her enthusiastically causing Hifumi to chuckle.

“You’ll be perfect.”

  
  


The entire way to and from the boys’ new apartment Goro and Yuuki kept texting Ryuji. He responded once to tell them he was going to help Hifumi and that he’d catch up with them later.

It was an answer Goro found unsatisfactory and was determined to find Ryuji so they could go eat.

Of course, it was well over an hour later when they stepped off the train in Kanda, and Ryuji still wasn’t texting back.

“I’m hungry!” Yuuki hung his head. “Couldn’t we eat before we went to get Ryuji?”

“If we eat before we get Ryuji, then we’re not going to eat after,” Goro responded. He sent another text.

**Akechi:** We’re in Kanda. Where are you? Are you still with Togo-san?

Goro glared down at his phone for five minutes.

Nothing.

He stuffed his phone back in his pocket and turned to Yuuki, “Come on. There’s a church nearby here. If I remember correctly it’s where Hifumi practices.”

“She practices in a church?”

Yuuki followed, albeit confused. But Goro forged ahead, his fist clenched at his sides. He was annoyed. Ryuji was just as bad as Akira! No wonder they were best friends.

The only positive thing about this situation was that Ryuji was in Tokyo and Akira was at home in Sumaru City. He could only imagine how much he’d have to run after and chase them down if they were  _ both _ here egging each other on to keep going someplace new.

Goro didn’t know exactly where the church was. He’d spoken about it a few times with Hifumi but had never been there himself. Luckily the locals were able to point them in the right direction with a few questions.

Outside of the church, Yuuki looked on surprised.

“You know, I thought you were kidding, but it really is a church.”

“What, you thought my information was wrong?” Goro put his hands on his hips, “I’m a detective. I know what I’m doing it comes to finding someone.”

“But why practice in a church?”

“Supposedly the head father here is a great Shogi player. He’s helped her learn some of her more signature techniques.”

“Oh! So, it's almost like a training dojo, and he’s the old master. Cool.”

Goro and Yuuki each grabbed a door before slowly opening them. Inside the church was mostly quiet save for two voices that echoed around the room. One was politely speaking in a hushed tone but the other kept spiking up here and there with disappointment. Scanning the room they found the owners of the voices sitting up in the front row.

Hifumi and Ryuji were sitting across from each other in a pew. Ryuji had his hands in his hair and his head tilted back. He was ruffling his own spiked locks in agony as Hifumi watched him, a hand covering her mouth while she laughed.

Goro entered the church and Yuuki followed.

“There you are, Sakamoto.”

“Hey man!” Ryuji turned in the seat to greet them, his arms hanging over the back of the seat, “What’s with the ‘Sakamoto’?”

“You’ve upset him, I wager,” Hifumi pointed out.

“How right you are, Togo-san.”

“Ryuji,” Yuuki came to stand around at the front of the pew while Goro stayed in the aisle. “Why aren’t you answering your phone?”

“You can’t have your phone on in a church, dude, that’s disrespectful.” Ryuji turned around to face him and then motioned to Hifumi, “Besides I was concentrating on this Shogi game! This stuff is  _ hard _ !”

“Shogi?” Goro folded his arms. “You?”

“What? Hifumi says I have a knack for it.”

“I said you have a knack for making basic mistakes.” She corrected him.

“On that, we can agree,” Goro chuckled and the others shortly joined in.

“Anyway, I’m sorry for stealing him,” Hifumi stood up from her seat. “I had some new ideas I wanted to try and a novice was just the person I needed. I hope I didn’t make you worry.”

“No, it’s fine, Togo-san.” Goro sighed, “I’m just sorry today happened like this…”

“So now that we’ve found, Ryuji, can we  _ please _ get some food.”

“Oh man! I totally forgot I hadn’t eaten since we got on the train!” Ryuji shouted and Hifumi gently shushed him. He put a hand over his mouth and muttered an apology.

“I think this game is finished anyway,” Hifumi turned back to the game board. “But I appreciate the assistance, Sakamoto-san.”

“No problem…” Ryuji started to help her pack up. “I can come back again. Watching and listening to you play is pretty fascinating. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I think I would like that.”

“Togo-san,” Goro interjected, “Why don’t you come eat with us. I’ll cover your meal.”

“Really?” Yuuki turned to him. “You seemed opposed earlier…”

“I wasn’t opposed. I just didn’t want to bother her… But since Ryuji has already spent up most of her afternoon…”

Ryuji turned to her, “What do you say, Togo-san? We can continue to talk Shogi? Or maybe you want to hear about track? And Yuuki plays volleyball. It can be a meeting of fellow athletes-” He motioned to Goro, “Well except for grandpa here.”

“Excuse you. Just because I don’t compete doesn’t mean I’m not athletic.”

“Yeah, but you can’t relate to the pressure of competition.”

“You only think that because you don’t put any thought into the pressures of academia.”

Yuuki and Hifumi started to laugh while Ryuji rolled his eyes. “Whatever let’s just go eat. Are you in, Togo-san?”

“Yes, I think I’ll come along.”

“Splendid,” Goro and Yuuki waited for them to finish packing up and the new quartet left the church to find something to eat.

The entire time Ryuji and Hifumi chatted back and forth exchanging stories about their time in the limelight.


	4. The Second Detective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you read the new character tags... You have to understand... Since his arrival in Sumaru City, he was never going to go away. He's just waiting. Just waiting...
> 
> Follow me for insanity:  
[tumblr](https://adraggynamedjade.tumblr.com/)  
[@draggynamed](https://twitter.com/draggynamed)  


  


Red light.

  
  


A foghorn.

  
  


A dock bell.

  
  


Saltwater.

  


Black figure.

  


Standing under the red light, he adjusted his gloves. Goro knew he was talking but it sounded muffled. Like he was speaking through glass.

The red light flickered and suddenly he was closer. The dock bell rang again, this time like a chime.  
  
They were standing nowhere, looking right at one another. But there’s nothing else. Just long stretches of darkness and the red light over the figure’s head. Goro swore that when the light went out the darkness came alive. Yet would still itself the moment the red light shined out.  
  
Shined out and showed nothing. Not even the seawater rolling in across the ground. But it was wet. He could feel it.

He wouldn’t even know he was present in this darkness except for the fact he was being spoken to and that the water kept splashing up against him.  
  
Like hands reaching out begging not to drown

That muffled voice coming from the black figure. It came in between his own. In between his thoughts.

Even though it was hard to hear, he knew it well. He knew what he wanted.

He has to prove himself. He has to get in. Get in.  
  
To that eye. It’s watching over the world. It’s watching them right now.  
  
It is the red light.  
  
It flickers when the eye blinks.  
  
The bell chimes closer.

He can’t keep letting Sae lock him out.

The eye blinked again and the light flickered. This time the figure was within arms-reach.

His face obscured by that black mask. With only Goro’s still reflection looking back at him.  
  
Did he go back for his mother yet? Was she still inside that door on the floor waiting for him?

The seawater pooled around their ankles as he spoke. The red light flickered faster and faster.

_ “I’m doing my best.” _ He told him.

Do better he was ordered. Find a way in. Don’t fail this mission.

Don’t fail.

Don’t give up.

The figure raised his hand and reached out to touch Goro on the face right as the dock bell chimed against his ear.

It was just a simple tap. Once on his cheek. Then a few more times before he paused to hold his hand in the air.

Then the tapping resumed faster followed by a very soft meow.

Goro reached up and swat the hand away and rolled over onto his side. He heard footsteps rush around his head accompanied by the sound of a bell chiming, and another meow. This time a soft fluffy head connected with his followed by a series of purrs.

“Shiki…” Goro pulled on his covers around his body tighter. “It can’t be time for your morning feeding already.”

She responded with a soft purr.

Goro opened his eyes and looked around the room. It was still dark.

“Did you wake me up because I was having a nightmare?” This time she responded with a soft, but enthusiastic meow. Goro scoffed at first but smiled. He raised his covers and Shiki stared under them for a moment before lowering her head to crawl inside the futon with him. Goro felt her paw around poking at his stomach before she settled down. Her purrs vibrating against his abdomen.

“What time is it, anyway?” Goro reached out and groped around until he found his phone. As the screen lit up, he frowned. “Two in the morning… Great. I have to be up in three hours.”

He sighed and turned the phone face down. He rolled onto his back and stared up at his ceiling. There was no way he was going to fall asleep again after that. His eyes glanced around the darkness of his room searching for the figure of his dreams. But the darkness was empty.

They only stood face to face when he slept. Otherwise, it was just the occasional indignant whisper. They hid in the shadows, away from the eyes of the public, from his peers, from his employers.  
  
He hid away with his true intentions.

“Maybe I should ask Maki about getting a refill on that prescription she gave me back in Sumaru…” His hands dug around under the covers until he found Shiki’s head and started scratching her scalp. “But if I’m taking any hard antidepressants or antipsychotics I may have to report that. Sae will certainly never give me a bigger case…”

_ “You can’t afford that.” _

Goro kept his head still but glanced to the right out of the corners of his eyes.

Just darkness.

With his free hand, he reached out from the covers again and grabbed the blue phone resting next to his regular one. The moment he touched the screen the bright golden V lit up his face.

“Robin Hood.”

The V changed to welcoming text and faded away to show him a few new notifications. Some responses to messages he sent and updates to files requested. There were also several updates in the general case files and evidence board. The chat was so affectionally dubbed ‘The Conspiracy Hub’ by Asteria.

He clicked through the messages curious to see what updates had been posted since he’d gone to bed.

**Helios:** Finally got a lab report on the patients in Mikage. Definitely a new variant on the Idealian drug. They’re making new variants faster than we can document them. The new composition has been added to the database here.

**Caesar:** It would seem you’re being affected at the same time we are. It's probably the same distributors.

**Caesar:** Have you had any reports of a group called ‘The Cult of Nyx’ in the city? I’ve narrowed them down to the main suppliers for the streets in Tatsumi.

**Apollo:** There’s another cult?

**Helios:** There’s another cult?

**Asteria:** One of you has to say jinx.

**Prometheus:** Nyx is relatively new. They’re religious-based, but their focus is not unlike Sudou’s death obsession, they are preaching about the end of the world. Caesar’s been sending me the files on them. There’s a special folder dedicated to them. Got a few shots of their leader meeting with The Cleaner.

**Caesar:** They’re mostly targeting high school kids. Any trouble youths, college dropouts and the homeless. Started out as just people handing out pamphlets, tagging walls. But since the Sumaru City case, they’ve been dealing a ‘Miracle Drug’. The press is calling the resulting epidemic of zoned out addicts victims of ‘Apathy Syndrome’.

**Prometheus:** I can give you a full run down when I return to Sumaru City.

**Apollo:** I appreciate it.

**Helios:** I’ll look over the info on the cult. Thanks for the notice, Caesar.

**Asteria:** Really? Just going to ignore it?

**Apollo:** This is a serious discussion.  
  
**Helios:** Please, this is a serious discussion.

**Caesar:** I agree, as often as this happens. One of you should say jinx.

Goro snorted and rolled his eyes. Still, he wanted to see what this ‘Cult of Nyx’ was about. The New World Order certainly was efficient in spreading its drugs far and wide. Two confirmed dealings in different cities, and he had his suspicions of their drugs circulating the streets in Tokyo. But they weren’t focused on youth, they were being given to the working class.

“A different social and economical circle is being targeted in each location? Is this perhaps to help prevent tracing it back to once source by the regular police force? Not to mention the number of variants. Sawada ran a lot of tests but I doubt he had this many samples ready to go.”

Goro started to click through to find the Nyx files when he received a new direct message.

“They must have another lab set up somewhere. I wonder if it’s here in Tokyo?”  
  
He opened up the message and began reading.  
  
  
**Y. Takeru:** Greetings, Robin Hood. I recently finished reading over the files involving the Akechi case and believe I have some new information that may prove valuable to you.

Goro sat up in a hurry upon reading the start of the message. Next to him Shiki whined and scrambled out of his futon. The message continued:  
  
**Y. Takeru:** I have reason to believe that the Akechi murder is linked to another unsolved case I’ve been investigating for a long time. Currently, I’m in Tatsumi Port Island assisting with an investigation. However, once it’s done, I’d like to meet up to share our information.

Goro felt he phone shake in his hands. Someone had a lead! And so soon… It had only been a few months. Still, he wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.  
  
**R. Hood:** I’d be happy to meet up Takeru. But beforehand, I could review the files. If they’re in the database please give me the file name and number and I’ll start looking over the information right away.

He hit send and stared at his phone. No response.  
  
It was the middle of the night, maybe they had messaged him before bed. It would probably be hours before they woke back up and looked at their phone. Still, he wished that he could have the files right now.

“Yamato Takeru… I don’t know who that is.” He continued to stare at his phone.

The Velvet Agency had strict police of agents keeping as much anonymity as possible. If they had never met face to face before they weren’t to give out their personal information freely. The idea was that if anyone was caught their ability to identify other agents would be limited.

He had several direct interactions with many agents that were just named with no faces: Caesar and Helios were just a few. He spoke to an agent named Telos who had several questions about Akira and his eccentric hobby of stealing things. And another named Orpheus about encrypting his computer and personal phone, and being reassured he wasn’t going to look too deeply into any porn stored on it.

Which there was not.

Though he was now paranoid Orpheus has put something on there due to an offhand comment about ‘now not even Goro himself could find his hidden file’.

At least quite a few members of the group had a sense of humor he supposed.

After a few more minutes of waiting Goro let out a sigh. They didn’t appear to still be awake. He set his phone down and slid back into his futon to stare up at the ceiling once more.

Tatsuya had instructed him that as soon as he was reinstated, he need to work on gaining more of Sae’s trust. She clearly trusted him enough to assign him cases the NWO had a special interest in and needed a certain outcome for, but not enough trust to let him in the secret. And recently she’d been assigning him petty cases. The kinds of things junior officers would be given.

Things that shouldn’t even be in SIU’s casework.

“I’ve done something to upset her…”

_ “Or someone over her is upset.” _

Goro chewed his bottom lip, “The train derailments are the current biggest case in SIU. There are talks of corruption in the Transportation Department. If I can convince Sae to let me work that case…”

_ “But you don’t know what outcome she wants?” _

“Then I’ll figure it out on my own. Someone in Transportation is meant to take the fall… Just like Sudou and Shimazu had to die on the sword for them in Sumaru, someone is meant to be the sacrifice.”

_ “So you’ll find them and offer them up before she even asks.” _

Goro nodded to himself just as Shiki came back around and hopped up onto his chest. She kneaded her paws into his shoulders and upper chest before settling down. Her face was just a few inches away from his as she contently purred.

It would be easy to find a scapegoat. He just had to conduct a few interviews, ask some questions at the transportation department office. Any plausible rumors would be decent leads. As well as bank records, work records, contracts… Surely he would be able to determine what she wanted and garner a sliver of information about the New World Order from her.

The only question was, would the plan result in someone guilty taking the fall for them? At least in Sumaru City Sudou and Shimazu were clearly scum. Would there be just as big a rat at the top of the supposed corruption here?

_ “Does that even really matter?” _

Goro managed to reclaim another hour and a half of sleep before his alarm went off.

Shiki jumped off of him and trotted out to the main room of his apartment while he got up and rolled up his futon. He made his way to the bathroom to freshen up, and she sat outside the door peering in at him. He learned the first week that he could no longer shut the door all the way. Shiki would start howling and pawing at the door if she couldn’t see him. But as long as he left it open just a bit so she could tilt her head in and see him, she wouldn’t panic.

When exited the bathroom and crossed back through the main room to his bedroom she followed on his heels letting out a few needy meows.

“No, you know you get feed while I eat breakfast.”

Shiki let out a short chirp of a meow in response.

She jumped up onto the dresser across from his closet and watched him pull out his clothes for the day. Once dressed Goro grabbed his briefcase and opened it up on the dresser. He began packing in his papers for work and school. Shiki would occasionally stick out her paw to give some of the papers little taps.

“What? Do you want to file my reports?” Goro turned to her and smiled. Shiki paused for a moment before leaning back on back legs to push herself up closer to his face. Goro leaned down and kissed her on the forehead before closing up his case. “Okay, breakfast time.”

Shiki’s eyes went wide and she jumped down from the dresser and ran out to the kitchen, her little bell dangling all the way.

Goro wasn’t sure what Chizuru would tell Shiki to get her attention for feeding time, but she had quickly learned ‘breakfast’, ‘lunch’, ‘special’ and ‘dinner’ since he brought her home.

Giving her a special meal was always a show. Shiki loved wet food, but it wasn’t really in his budget to buy it for her all the time. So, every Wednesday she’d get a ‘special’ dinner. And the moment he said the word she was up and circling his legs with an excited trot letting out a series of short, chirp like meows. And while eating would purr so loudly the noise filled the apartment.

He supposed Chizuru must have given her as her regular meal.

“I wonder if you miss her?” Goro looked down at Shiki as he pulled out the bag of dry, dietary cat food. “I’m sorry it had to be this way, but you seem to be enjoying your time here with me.” Goro scooped out a fourth of a cup of food and put it into Shiki’s bowl. She started to eat right away while he filled her water dish with water from his filter.

Shiki’s dishes were black and white. Her food dish was white with black spots, and her water dish was black with white stripes.

Most of her accessories were either black or white. Her favorite toy was a big white stuffed mouse that rattled when she tossed it around. Goro had purchased a little black cat hammock that attached to his window so Shiki could sit in it and look outside. He bought her a cloth weave scratching board that hung from the doorknob of his front door- it was mostly red but had black and white poke-a-dots on it.

He bought that toy first. As her first night in the apartment, she started clawing at the back of his door. He couldn’t have that.

In the short time he’d brought Shiki home the floor of his main room was covered with a sea of soft toys that rattled, rubbery toys that would dispense treats when rolled about, fluffy toys with feathery ends, or toys designed to be ‘caught’ and kicked at with her back feet. Goro had probably bought her more toys than he’d been bought as a child.  
  
It was a little melancholy to think about. But at the same time, there was something inside him that felt happy about just lying on his floor with a plastic wand that had feathers dangling from it and watching his cat chase it around.

Goro made himself a simple breakfast of a piece of toast, some egg, and an apple. The bread was filling, eggs were a good protein boost for the day, and fruit to round it off with something healthy. Shiki finished eating before him and came over to sit next to him. Since the apartment wasn’t very big, Goro didn’t have a lot of room. Across from the kitchen he just had a low sitting table, with a few mat cushions to sit on, no chairs and a small flat television hanging on the wall. There were a few more cute animal pillows piled up in the corner- gifts form fans- that he’d use to recline on the few times he did watch TV, but they were primarily used by Shiki now.

She liked to climb over them and knock them over to find a few select ones and drag them wherever she could before napping on them. Right now, she was content to curl up on the floor next to him.

“Let’s see,” he started going over his day’s itinerary with himself, “I have to go by the school and turn in my course work for this class. I should have enough time to stop by the office to reaffirm my next semester schedule. By then it should be lunchtime and I’ll be free from school so I can head by the office-”

Goro’s phone buzzed interrupting his thoughts. It was still plugged up in the other room, and he got in a hurry, hoping it was the other Velvet agent messaging him back. But alas it was just his regular phone ringing.

Sae had sent him a message.

**Sae:** Akechi, no need for you to stop in today. Enjoy the time off.

“No need!” Goro huffed. “Now she’s just outright not seeing me instead of giving me new cases…”

He squeezed the phone in his hands, “Fine, I’ll go by the transportation department and start my own investigation.”

He shot her a message back that he’d put the time to good use.

After that Goro finished up his food and cleaned his plates before packing Shiki into her carrying case and headed out for the day.

Approval or not, _ “You have a mystery to solve.” _


	5. Rainflower Fortune

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right, so not everyone looks at social media- but the long of the short of it is, my cat of 10 (nearly 11) years died of cancer. And honestly, I wasn't getting shit for anything. In my real life let alone writing.
> 
> Recently thanks to [ Li ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwilightKnight17/pseuds/TwilightKnight17) I've been able to get back into writing. And Also huge shout outs to [ Rover ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rudolphsd/) who, while I wasn't writing still helped me lay out the entire plot and research for the next mystery. So, since that's all ready to go, I guess I gotta get back to it with the in-between story so everyone can see that!
> 
> Anyway I'm hanging out at:  
[tumblr](https://adraggynamedjade.tumblr.com/)  
[@draggynamed](https://twitter.com/draggynamed)  


Chapter Five: Rainflower Fortune

“-I think the worst part is, I’m still upset.”

“And why is that the worst part?”

“Because I don’t want to be upset…” Jun sighed and dragged his hands over his face.

It was hard for him to tell if these therapy sessions were working. No matter how many visits he had with Reiko, he still left unable to understand why he was feeling upset. And it wasn’t fair.

“…It’s not Tatsuya’s fault.” He removed his hands from his face and stared up at the ceiling. Jun was lying on the couch in Reiko’s office. The woman was sitting across from him in a large lounge chair taking notes. She didn’t say much until the end of their sessions. Often just letting Jun ramble on, stopping him to only asking him questions and directing the conversation. She let him air out his fears and concerns as they dug to the root of the issue, but usually, Jun felt he rambled for so long that they rarely got to sort things out.

“It’s not any one’s fault other than mine-”

“You’ve said that since the beginning,” Reiko interrupted him, “Why do you feel that way?”

“…Sudou wouldn’t have had such an interest in Akira if not for me.” Jun slightly turned his head toward her, “I was the one he wanted. I was the one who rejected him. Ignored him and kept him out of my life… When I knew that everyone else had done the same. I made him what he was… And even though it’s all resolved, I’m still upset. I’m getting angry over nothing at home. I have these thoughts running through my head of ‘why didn’t we just do this?’, ‘How could we have let this happen?’, ‘When is it going to be okay?’”

“You’re still grieving,” Reiko tapped her pen to the end of her note pat. “Rather than moving forward toward acceptance, you seem to be cycling through the same stages of grief: anger and bargaining. You keep questioning about doing things differently, even though Sudou has already passed. And you keep looking for someone to blame you, even though everyone agrees you’re not at fault-”

“I am at fault!” Jun sat up and swung his legs around. “That’s why I’m so upset! I did this… It was my mistake… Everything from Sudou to Akira…”

Reiko made a notation down on her pad, “Why Akira?”

“Excuse me?”

“You say things with Akira are your fault? You mentioned that two sessions ago…” the woman flipped through her notepad, “Here… ‘When we adopted Akira, I was warned there would be complications. But this entire incident was more than I could have imagined.’ You mentioned feeling emotionally overwhelmed and fatigued.” She looked up at him, “But you don’t seem to want to elaborate on why that is? Why adopting Akira was going to be problematic.”

Jun stared at her, tight-lipped. He said nothing and just lowered his gaze to the floor.

“I can’t help you, Jun, if you don’t tell me.”

“I- I have to ask if I can tell you.”

“You have to ask? Who?”

Jun shook his head slightly, “Tatsuya.”

“Hmn,” Jun didn’t lift his head but he heard Reiko making some notes. “Is your husband controlling?”

“What!” His head snapped up, “No, not at all. Tatsuya lets me have my way far too often if anything.”

“Like with your wish to visit Sudou’s gave site? He still hasn’t said anything negative about that?”

“No, nothing.”

Reiko looked back down and made a few notes. As she did, the timer for her session with Jun went off. He started to stand, and she raised her hand indicating she wanted him to stay. As soon as she was done jotting down her information Reiko set her pad aside.

“I can see that you’re hiding something from me… Something about your relationship with your son and husband. It’s hard for me to tell if that factors into this or not, but I can tell you, you are slipping a bit further into your depressed state. And the anger… When you were a senior in high school you were seeing Maki about anger management and depression.”

“Yes. I haven’t- I haven’t needed anything for that in years.”

“The recent resurgence of your depression could be tipping the balance again. It could explain why you’re so intent on hanging onto your anger over the incident with Sudou. I want to write you a few prescriptions… But-” Reiko rose to her feet, “I want to talk to your husband about your condition.”

Jun watched her stand up confused, “You want to talk to Tatsuya? Why?”

“A lot of your anger is directed at him. I just want to interview him, for a better understanding. But only with your permission.”

Jun sighed and slowly pushed himself to stand up, “Tatsuya, never speaks about his feelings… Even now, he just listens to me. And Akira… I’ve asked him how he felt and all he says is he’s happy we're all together.”

“No signs he’s having any inner turmoil, anger, anxiety?”

“…He’s always been good about keeping it to himself. Even when we were kids.”

“I see, well… I’ll let you run it by him.” Reiko turned to her desk to grab a prescription pad and scribbled down a few names and doses. “Here,” she tore the paper off and turned to Jun. “For now, we’ll focus on the depression. See if that helps clear up your lingering anger and if you’re able to move forward.”

He took the paper, his hand trembling just a bit, “Thank you.”

Jun sighed, and folded the paper to slip into his pocket.

Reiko moved to the door and opened it up. Jun did his best to shake the tired and distant look off his face and put on a smile as he exited the office. Once outside he turned and smiled at Reiko one last time.

“Thank you again, Reiko-san.”

“There’s no need to thank me,” she cordially nodded, “You’re making great progress. You and your son are long-time clients, I’m simply happy that you’re pleased enough with our service to keep returning. You know that many patients transferred out after the debacle with Sawada… I must admit I’m so surprised your family out of all of them still comes here…”

Jun did his best to try and reassure her, “That’s because both you and Maki-san are here. I remember how much good she did for me… And certainly, Akira’s childhood was improved by his time with Maki as well. One selfish man doesn’t change how we feel about either of you.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Reiko smiled. “I’ll see you next week then?”

“Of course,” Jun turned away from her to smile at Tatsuya and Akira on the couch. He hoped it was cheerful enough to mask his exhaustion. They both smiled back at him, so he took that as a good sign. Tatsuya could probably tell, but Akira looked on at him with a cheerful expression; one he often displayed since Goro left Sumaru City.

Akira’s smile did revitalize him. It had been a few years since he’d seen Akira smile this much. It was like he was back to being a kid again. A bright, happy, little boy who was just excited to have his own room, his own bed, and his own toys. Who was just happy to have someone who wanted to spend time with him each day, and not lock him away and forget him.

‘Amamiya…’ Jun felt his stomach twist up in knots as he stopped next to the couch. Surly Akira never wanted to go back to those people… Not that he could. Akira hadn’t spoken of them much since the hospital. Jun did bring them up once, but Akira told him the things he felt he remembered so clearly on the day he woke up were all a blur now.

That was probably for the best.

“Alright, sorry I took a little longer than usual,” Jun extended his hand to Tatsuya. His husband took it as he stood and squeezed. When Jun glanced up to meet his gaze, he felt the knot in his stomach tighten. Tatsuya’s eyes held a hint of worry.

“Akira only just came out a few minutes ago himself…” He hesitated, “How are you feeling?”

Jun opened his mouth, ready to assure Tatsuya he was fine, to tell him not to worry. To tell him he was going to be much better… But he foolishly deflected, “I feel hungry.”

“Pops! That’s not a feeling!” Akira jumped up from the couch, “But I agree. I’m also hungry.”

“We can go eat at the Jolly Roger,” Tatsuya advised.

“No, it’s closed. It’s being converted into a Big Bang Burger.”

Tatsuya rolled his eyes and Jun chuckled, hiding his smirk behind his hands, “Another one?”

“Dad, don’t knock it till you try it! Plus, one of Goro’s friends is the daughter of the CEO.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like that every fast food restaurant in town is becoming a Big Bang Burger.”

“Well we can head over to Gatten Sushi then,” Jun started walking, still holding onto Tatsuya’s hand as they made their way out of the office. Akira bounded his way up to Jun’s other side and held out his cellphone.

“Hey, Pops, what do you think of Goro’s cat blog?”

  
  
  


Dinner at Gatten Sushi went smoothly in Jun’s eyes. He delighted in showing Akira that he already knew about Goro’s cat blog. He even liked and saved a few pictures of Shiki.

Tatsuya continued to express that he didn’t understand the value of the blog.

“Goro’s become popular around town since the investigation,” Jun placed his phone face down on the table. “I’ve spotted a few girls in the stores wearing ‘A.’ pins and the  _ Coolest _ ’s interview of him was one of their top five downloaded issues.” Jun was sitting next to Akira, and Tatsuya sat across from them on the other side of the table.

“You’re keeping up with Goro’s popularity?” Tatsuya had his attention focused on the plate in the middle of the table where there was one last piece of sushi. Currently, he was hovering over it while Akira’s chopsticks were clamped down on his.

“I’m going to be working at Sevens again. It will help if I know some of what’s popular with the kids.”

“Pops, if you need info on Goro, I can keep you up to date,” Akira continued to hang onto Tatsuya’s chopsticks as he tried to pull away.

“I don’t want to pry into your relationship, Akira…” Jun watched them struggle for a moment, “You two could just split it.”

“Dad had one more than everyone else.”

“No, I didn’t, I had one less than Jun.”

“I was counting.”

“Akira, Tatsuya, just split it.”

“If it was tuna Morgana could have it….”

“We’re already at an odd number because you gave Morgana all the tuna ones.”

Jun shook his head with a sigh as they continued. Eikichi approached their table and slid into the booth next to Tatsuya.

“Finally, a lull in the crowd!” He leaned back in the booth and nodded to Jun, “So how’s my best friend and best brother-in-law doing? Is the meal any good? If you don’t like it, I’ll rough up the chef.”

Jun scoffed and rolled his eyes, “The food was great, Eikichi.”

“Yeah, Uncle, we loved it,” Akira turned his attention to Eikichi. His greeting was just long enough for Tatsuya to pull himself free and take the last piece of sushi.

“Promise me you won’t sell this place to Big Bang Burger,” Tatsuya nodded to Eikichi.

“What? Me? Sell out to the man? Come on, you know me better than that.” Eikichi jerked his thumb over his shoulder, “I heard a rumor that some suits from Okumura were down at the Shiraishi Ramen, though. So that might be gone in a few months.”

“The ramen shop? Ryuji will be heartbroken…”

“He’s leaving soon anyway, right?” Eikichi nodded, “Soon you and Etsuko are going to be the only two kids of the group around. It may mean that the size of the free meals I give out is going to go down, but my waste is going to increase… You kids were great for clearing out the odds and ends of supplies.”

“Yeah, it’s going to be lonely without them here…” Akira set down his chopsticks and stared at his plate for a moment. Jun turned his head to study his son’s expression. Akira was more upbeat as of late, however just because he was smiling all the time didn’t mean that there couldn’t be something wrong. Perhaps the cheerful attitude had lulled Jun into a false sense of security about his son.

He had caught him having a few nightmares as of late.

“Hey, don’t think of it as being alone,” Eikichi pat his hand on the table, “You’re folks are still here with you. And you know your cousin and us are always here for you too.”

“And Lisa’s pretty much made Sumaru her base of operations,” Tatsuya added.

“And Big Maya will always be interested in keeping you company, Akira,” Jun reached over to put a hand on his shoulder.

The contact made Akira’s head pop up and he offered each of them a smile.

“You’re right. Sorry… I guess I was just overthinking it. I know my family is still here.”

Jun nodded firmly but kept his hand on Akira’s shoulder for a bit longer until the conversation started up again. He retracted his hand and watched as Akira now started on Eikichi about the cat blog. Jun remained mostly silent watching the back and forth between Eikichi’s curiosity, Tatsuya’s dismissal, and Akira’s overzealous explanations.

Seeing them all carry on like it was a regular meal was nice. It was like nothing had ever happened. However, the longer he sat listening, taking in the normalcy of the dinner his jaw tightened behind his smile. Something did happen. This meal almost didn’t happen.

If just one thing had gone differently, Akira wouldn’t be here. Jun took a deep breath just thinking about all the ways the slightest error could have cost them Akira’s life.

“Jun.”

He jerked his head at the sound of his name. Tatsuya was eyeing him from across the table.

“Oh,” he finally relaxed his jaw, “Sorry I was… Focusing on what I had left to do to prepare for school.”

Tatsuya said nothing, But Eikichi spoke up.

“Oh yeah! Yoshizaka was in here a few days ago, she said you were hired back into staff. Teaching second year?”

“That’s right! It’s only been a few years, but I want to make sure I’m not rusty. High schoolers can be ruthless.”

Eikichi snorted, “You’re certainly the authority on that.”

Jun let out an awkward laugh, but Tatsuya shook his head.

“Alright,” Eikichi stood up, “I’ve got work to do, and I’m sure you want to get home so you can continue to organize things.” He started to grab their empty plates. “And don’t worry, it’s on the house as usual.”

“When are you going to make us start paying for meals?” Tatsuya shook his head. “This is a terrible way to run a business.”

“Family eats for free, Tatsuya! If you want to pay, divorce Jun.”

Akira and Jun chuckled.

  
  
  


“Why does us getting divorced mean I have to pay? Why not you?”

Tatsuya opened the door to their house and let Jun and Akira in before him.

“Eikichi would never make me pay,” Jun held his head up, exaggerating a smug look as he walked past his husband.

“Dad, even I know Pops is allowed to get away with anything and everything in your group.” Akira turned around and put his hands on his hips, “That’s why I made it a point to take after him.”

“Akira,” Jun shook his head, “You take after Tatsuya.” Akira opened his mouth like he was going to object but Jun held up his hand, “Motorcycle. Idiocy.”

Akira let his mouth hang open, blinked a few times, “I’m going to my room.”

Jun covered his mouth trying to hold back a laugh so he could speak, “Have a good night, sweetheart.”

“I will,” he half waved as he started down the hall.

“And if you have a nightmare, wake me up okay,” Jun called after him.

“Pops, I don’t need you for a little nightmare okay!”

Jun continued to stare down the hall as Akira walked out of sight, “What do you think about Akira’s nightmares?” Tatsuya didn’t answer right away so he continued talking. “I wonder if he’s still bothered about everything that happened and just isn’t telling us?”

“You mean like you are?”

“What?” He turned his eyes from the hall to Tatsuya. His husband was watching him with a concerned expression. “Why are you saying that?”

“Because you are… Do you want to talk about it?”

Jun slowly shook his head, “Tatsuya, I’m fine. My sessions with Reiko are going well.”

“I never said they weren’t,” he inclined his head toward Jun, “I’m sure she’s helping you a lot, but there’s something wrong, isn’t there?”

Jun stood still. Of course, Tatsuya knew something was wrong. Decades together and he still thought he could hide things from him. However, now that he was confronted, he had to decide what he was ready to tell Tatsuya and what he still wanted to work on…

“Reiko wants to interview you.”

“Interview me?”

“Yes,” Jun looked away and combed his fingers through his bangs. “She asked me today if you’re controlling.”

“What?” Tatsuya chuckled softly. That was a relief, it seemed this information would be enough.

“I told her you weren’t,” Jun looked back at him and shrugged. “But it came up in a line of questioning about Akira… I told her there were somethings I couldn’t answer, and she thinks you’re stopping me from giving details.”

“Oh,” Tatsuya pressed his lips together and hummed. “Alright, I think I can handle an interview with her.”

“… Are you sure? I mean… I was certain we still weren’t giving out any information.”

“I can handle it.” Tatsuya nodded before walking over to Jun. He placed a hand on his shoulder and a kiss on his forehead, “Don’t stress about it anymore, okay? I thought your jaw was going to lock in place at dinner.”

“You-!” Jun raised a hand and gently smacked at the side of Tatsuya’s arm.

“Come on,” Tatsuya grabbed his hand, “I know you worry about Akira more than anything. And it’s obvious when you’re overthinking something. And you’ve been tense since we left the therapy office.”

Jun let out a slightly annoyed grumble, “I just knew you knew… You always know.”

“You’re an easy book to read.” Tatsuya kissed the back of his hand.

“Am I? Easy doesn’t mean enjoyable.”

Tatsuya looked at Jun questioningly, “Your problems have never made me think any less of you.” Jun tried to turn his head away only to have Tatsuya reach out to take his chin and turn it back. “I mean that.”

He made sure they kept eye contact with one another.

“Does that bother you?” Tatsuya asked.

“…”

“That’s what it is isn’t it?”

“Tatsuya,” Jun shook him off and put up his hands with a deflective smile. “You’re so ridiculous. You would forgive me if I pushed a button that ended the whole world. Deliberately.”

“I’m sure you’d have a good reason.”

“Tatsuya!” Jun pressed his palm to his forehead and stood still thinking. Even though he turned his eyes down he still knew his husband was watching him. “…Do you ever blame me for anything?”

“…I blamed you that time Morgana ate the buttons off my shirts when you were doing laundry.”

“For anything serious,” Jun looked up and snapped at him.

Tatsuya shrugged, “All of my work shirts missing a button right in the middle of them was serious at the time.”

“What about taking Akira from the hospital that night?”

Tatsuya didn’t respond.

“So you do?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you’re not answering me.”

“I don’t blame you for that.”

Jun took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He didn’t say anything else, he just turned and walked away towards the kitchen. Tatsuya followed after him and stood next to the table as Jun started to make himself a cup of tea.

“You want me to blame you.”

Jun still didn’t answer, he just started aggressively opening cabinets and pulling a cut, saucer, a spoon.

“You know you’re not at fault, Jun. Sudou was.”

Jun turned his back to him to fill the kettle with water and then place it on the stove. When he didn’t react, Tatsuya continued talking.

“There are a lot of people at fault for all the things that happened that night. Sudou, Sawada, Akira’s father-”

“Which father,” Jun mumbled.

“Excuse me?”

“Which of Akira’s fathers? Are you talking about me? You? Or  _ him _ ?”

“You know who I’m talking ab-” Tatsuya shook his head, “Jun, don’t do this. You do not have to take responsibility for this.”

“What if I  _ want _ to?” He turned to look at Tatsuya. “Don’t you think one of us should?”

“Of course I do. But that one of us isn’t you.”

Jun stared at his husband, frowning slightly. He felt his jaw clenching up again, and the tightness in his chest returning.

“…Don’t you dare.”

“You know that you’re not at fault.”

“…Tatsuya.”

“I ran the investigation.”

“Tatsuya, listen to me-”

“I brought you to the hospital to meet Akira.”

“You can’t tell me I didn’t do this. Not this time.”

“I helped cover it all up-”

The kettle started to make an attempt at whistling and Jun grabbed the handle.

“-I dragged you into this and-”

“I’m the one that made Sudou! Not you!” Jun screamed at the top of his lungs as he turned and hurled the hot kettle across the room. Tatsuya slightly flinched, but it didn’t come anywhere near him as it sailed across the counter and collided with the far wall of the room before crashing onto the floor behind the dining room table.

He turned his head to see where it had hit and then back to Jun.

Jun stood with his arm still slightly stretched out and trembling. The moment Tatsuya made eye contact with him again he crumbled to the floor and started gasping for air. He buried his face in his hands but could hear Tatsuya’s footsteps as he hurried over to him.

“Don’t touch me!” He managed to belt out. But kept his face covered. He felt his entire body was shaking, and his palms were slowly getting wetter as he started to cry.

“I made him.” He muttered. “I made him. I was his everything. Everything he did was for me. Don’t take that from me. Don’t take it.”

Tatsuya said nothing, though Jun was sure he was still standing there.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat on the ground, crying into his hands but eventually, Jun pulled them away from his face and looked ahead.

Tatsuya was now sitting on the floor with his back to the counter just watching him. His expression was fixed into a pensive gaze. He didn’t move when Jun looked at him. And Jun continued to sit on the floor shaking as he cried.

“…You didn’t make Sudou.”

“-You-”

“Shut up.” Jun cut him off. “I know what it’s like to love someone so much it makes you sick. I felt that way about you in high school. All I wanted was to ruin your life. It’s not fair. I got help. I never went back to help him.”

Tatsuya nodded.

“Sudou is my fault.”

Tatsuya nodded.

“No. Say it out loud.”

“…Sudou is your fault.”

Jun sighed. He nodded. He then leaned forward and crawled over to Tatsuya. He put his back against the counter and Tatsuya raised his arm to wrap around Jun’s shoulders as he leaned over to rest his head on him.

“Did Akira say anything about the noise?” Jun mumbled.

Tatsuya shook his head, “I think he’s already passed out.”

“…How did he sleep through that…” Jun sighed. “I feel like his new medication makes his sleeping too deep. Not that he’ll talk to me about his weird new sleeping habits.”

Tatsuya just responded by squeezing Jun’s shoulder, and lightly rubbing his arm. They sat in silence for a few moments before he spoke up.

“…Your aim is getting off.”

Jun sniffled and bit back a sobbing laugh, “If I wanted to hit you I would have.”

“…Are you talking to Reiko about your anger?”

“She gave me something for my depression… Said that she wants to see if that brings my anger down.”

“It’s a start. But you should probably tell her you threw a boiling kettle across the kitchen.”

“I’ll tell her it was your fault.”

“…Why?” Tatsuya turned his head to kiss the top of Jun’s forehead, “It’s yours.”


End file.
